


Valentine's Day

by masulevin



Series: Written in the Stars [3]
Category: Mass Effect: Andromeda
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Custom Female Ryder | Sara, F/M, Fluff, Non-Pathfinder Ryder, Valentine's Day
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-22
Updated: 2018-02-22
Packaged: 2019-03-22 14:22:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 852
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13766007
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/masulevin/pseuds/masulevin
Summary: Reyes puts a little extra effort into celebrating Valentine's Day with Avery, but she doesn't react quite the way he expects.





	Valentine's Day

Reyes is up to something. That’s pretty normal, actually – Avery isn’t sure she’s ever seen Reyes  _not_ up to something. The difference this week is that it, somehow, involves her, and she knows  _that_ because Keema and Kian are both in on it but won’t spill the beans.

(Keema needed this idiom explained to her, and it took ten minutes of her confusion and Kian’s giggling for Avery to realize Keema does get it but was playing dumb to change the subject.)

Reyes is as stoic as ever, Keema and Kian useless to her, so Avery tries her absolute best to keep her curiosity at a simmer rather than at a rolling boil. It’s  _hard._

When Reyes sends her a message to join him in his apartment for dinner, no alarm bells go off in her head. She joins him more often than he joins her, and they spend more nights together than apart now. It takes until she feeds his door her code to get in that she realizes she’s about to figure out whatever he’s been up to.

A plant she’s never seen before sits in a little white pot on Reyes’ kitchen counter, wide leaves swaying gently as Avery ushers a breeze into the apartment. She stares at it, racking her brain to figure out what, exactly, this plant  _is_ and why it’s in Reyes’ home when Reyes himself isn’t.

She reaches out to touch one purplish leaf before she hears the door swish open behind her, Reyes’ familiar footsteps immediately following.

“Keema says not to touch that,” he says, voice low in her ear as he wraps his arms around her waist, tugging her a step backwards into his embrace and away from the plant. She smiles and melts against him as he presses a quick kiss to the scar on her cheekbone.

“If I can’t  _touch_  it, why is it  _here_?”

“Watch.” Without releasing Avery, Reyes uses his omnitool to turn off his apartment lights. Avery catches her breath when she sees him keying in the command, then lets it all out in a rush when she sees the plant begin to  _glow._ “It’s from Havarl,” Reyes says, rubbing Avery’s arms with both hands as she relaxes. “It’s one of the bioluminescent plants that grows there, but it’s toxic. Keema helped me get it for you. I thought it might help.”

“It’s  _beautiful_ , Rey, thank you.” She pulls away from him just enough to spin in his embrace. She loops her arms around his neck as a smile slowly blooms on his face, and he uses his hands on her hips to pull her closer until their lips meet.

Their kiss is slow and sweet, both of them smiling into the other. When she pulls away, the lights are already back on. Reyes clutches her tighter for a moment as he kisses her forehead. She huffs a laugh and kisses his chin.

“What’s the occasion?” Avery tries to move into the apartment, but Reyes grabs her hand and pulls her back into his embrace.

“You deserve something nice,” Reyes says simply. “Something… beautiful, but dangerous.” His lips twist into a smirk. “Like  _you_.”

“Oh, my god.” Avery hides her blush and her rolling eyes by tucking her face into his shoulder. “You’re the worst.”

Reyes chuckles, squeezing her tighter for a moment before relaxing again. “There aren’t a lot of options in Heleus when you need to get your girl flowers for Valentine’s Day.”

A long moment of silence passes between them as Avery blinks against his shirt in confusion. “There’s no Valentine’s Day in Andromeda.”

“There  _is_ , and it’s today.”

“Reyes… did you pick a random day and decide to celebrate it as Valentine’s, or am I missing something?” When Avery stands up straight and looks up at him, her eyebrows are drawn together and her lower lip caught between her teeth.

Reyes reaches up and cups her cheek, using his thumb to gently pull her lip free. “Avery.”

“Reyes.”

He takes a moment to study her face. “What’s wrong?”

“…nothing.” He just blinks at her, and it only takes two seconds of silence before she wrinkles her nose at him and gives in. “Valentine’s isn’t my favorite holiday.”

He hums. “Why? Maybe I can help.”

This time, the silence stretches between them for longer. Reyes simply waits, completely still, and Avery gives in, saying each word very carefully: “There’s a  _chance_ that Valentine’s is also… my birthday?” Reyes’ eyebrows start to climb, so Avery interjects, “I just don’t like people making a big deal of it, okay? It’s _not_  a big deal.”

Reyes doesn’t push the issue, doesn’t question her hesitance over celebrating her birthday or Valentine’s Day. He just kisses her once again, lingering, before pulling away. “I’ll get you two plants next year, then.”

Avery giggles and shakes her head at him, glancing back over her shoulder at the softly glowing leaves. “Thanks.”

She starts to step away, but Reyes grabs her hand one last time. “Happy Valentine’s  _and_ happy birthday, mi reina.” She accepts his kiss and then he lets her go.


End file.
